Thursday 28 March 2013

What's The Difference Between Affiliate Programs Offering Direct Sales Or A Matrix?

By Howe Russell


Before you make money online as an affiliate marketer for companies such as Visalus and Empower Network you should take a little time to see the different options which are in front of you as you begin your journey to one day becoming your own boss. Today's post will help you get through one of the biggest steps.

When choosing an affiliate business, would you be better suited to one which offered a direct sales package or a matrix structure?

The main attraction to affiliate marketing is the quickness of the whole process. Rather than presenting a business plan, getting a loan and then trying to find a property to use as your HQ you simply sign up to an already established brand and promote their products. This simplicity is it's main attraction.

While you can earn an income with absolutely any company providing you work hard enough, it's a great first move to choose a company which has a compensation plan that suits your needs. So, are you more suited to a matrix structure or would you prefer a direct sales opportunity? Let's find out... [
See how Russ Howe became established in empower network here.
]

The most common system is the direct sales method. By signing up to the company you wish to work with, you are then able to promote their products via a unique affiliate link and earn a sizable commission for your efforts. Usually the compensation is quite large in these plans, offering around 90% of the money generated.

That means if you refer a member to a business product which costs $10, you would earn roughly $9 or $10 for that sale. Direct sales has the advantage of offering very high commission levels which make it easier to hit the ground running and generate a three-to-four figure monthly income in a relatively short period of time depending how serious the individual is.

Nothing is perfect, however, and direct sales plans have one major negative factor. Affiliates only generate commissions based upon their own efforts, meaning they do not increase their income for helping those who they sign up to the business. This tends to lead to people becoming poor sponsors who do not want to share their knowledge, even with their own team who joined the business through them, because there isn't a financial gain and it would merely increase their own competition.

The second option is a matrix layout. The first thing you will notice about this type of compensation plan is that it offers a substantially smaller payout per sale. Instead of a 90% commission, it's more likely to be around the 10% mark. This means if somebody bought a $10 product via your link you would earn $1.

The major benefit of a matrix system is that you earn every time a referral makes a sale, too. So while your individual reward is smaller, this combines with the sales you earn every time a team member builds their own business. When you combine both aspects this can lead to a very lucrative income. It also promotes the idea of helping your team regularly, because their success is your success.

Of course, promoting the idea of helping your team can also have a negative aspect. It tends to lead to in-fighting and competition between teams promoting the same affiliate program. It is not uncommon to see teams trying to outsell each other by making bigger and bolder claims, until they reach the stage where they are practically promising to do all of the work for new members if they choose them over other teams. This is impossible, of course, and tends to only attract freeloaders.

There is no doubt that both styles have their own sets of positive and negative aspects to deal with. There is no perfect structure, so it would be wise to weigh up both options and take the one which you are personally more attracted to. Opportunities like Empower Network offer a direct sales approach whereas companies like Global Domains tend to stand by a matrix layout. Either way, there are many companies out there for you to choose from.




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